


AaCW: Better Than Butterflies

by loosenyourcorset



Series: Adventures at Camp Wildflower [4]
Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Gen, M/M, Original Character(s), Pining, RPF, Summer Camp, it's getting spicy now ladies, tiny meat gang - Freeform, tmg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 11:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20527556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosenyourcorset/pseuds/loosenyourcorset
Summary: "Thanks, dude. I won't tell anyone. About you letting me win, I mean. Not the other thing. I wouldn't have told anyone about that anyway. Except maybe Spock," Cody chuckled, a light blush forming on his cheeks. A blush that he allowed, this time."No, don't tell Spock! He embellishes. The next thing you know, you'll hear the story back from some kid you've never even met and we'll have been doing something way worse," said Noel, who was grinning now, the awkwardness slowly dissipating.I.E. It's finally time to play Capture the Flag and other little things happen too.





	AaCW: Better Than Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since the last chapter and honestly I just got busy, plus I moved, so I'm sorry for the wait! I should be able to upload fairly regularly again now. Obligatory please do not send this out to anyone mentioned in the fic or anyone who might know them personally, it is just for fun.
> 
> Any feedback is much appreciated and I hope you enjoy :)

Cody spent the rest of the week letting his ankle heal and leaving the movies alone altogether. Noel and the other boys sparsely kept him company, and he was able to get up more and more in order to start walking again. Not that he didn't milk his injury for all it was worth, because he totally did. By the end of the week Spock had stopped feeling guilty and was finally allowing himself to eat his own desserts again, much to Cody's disappointment. Everyone was pleased to see him up and on his feet by Friday, but mostly because they didn't want to listen to him gripe if he couldn't play Capture the Flag on Saturday.

"Do you have any idea how to play Capture the Flag, Noel?" he asked over a bedtime snack of pretzel sticks. He had had to give up the licorice because it kept getting stuck in his braces and was decidedly both unattractive and more of a pain to get out than it was worth.

"I assume you win once you have, if I may be so bold, captured the flag?" Noel retorted dryly. He could practically feel a shock wave following Cody's eye-roll.

"Okay, okay, sure. It may sound easy, but it's not. Strategy is involved! Teamwork, stealth, endurance. It's all part of the time-honored tradition that is the game, especially since it's so different this year."

The cabins had been briefed on the rules of the game that morning during breakfast. Camp Wildflower in the past had had two teams with two flags, and whoever obtained the other team's flag first won. Things had gotten a little ugly the year prior, and a few campers were sent home due to "unsportsmanlike conduct" that the counselors wouldn't give out much information on. Cody hadn't cared because he'd been on the losing team (as well as the year before that), and that was punishment enough even though he hadn't been a part of whatever had happened. This year, there was one flag. One team was guarding the flag, the other team would be trying to steal it. The game would last until sundown and the guardian team would win if the flag was never caught. He honestly couldn't decide which team he wanted to be on more.

Noel, on the other hand, was almost considering volunteering to stay back and help entertain the 3-7 year olds. Only the two older age groups got to play, and he wasn't exactly a boy built for sports. Sure he had an athletic build, but he mostly chalked that up to good genes, a high metabolism, and having the energy to move around a lot. It had nothing to do with playing on sports teams, which he never had. Upon voicing his concern that he might not be up for what Cody kept referring to as 'the best camp event of the summer', he quickly realized that was a mistake. Cody's whining spiked up to levels Noel couldn't have predicted, but he held out strong. At least until Cody started giving him that Puss in Boots stare, which he absolutely could not handle, and he promised to play.

They got into bed early and were up practically at dawn. That wasn't a requirement but Cody wanted to practice moving around more on his ankle, because he wasn't about to lose CTF three damn years in a row.

Outside of the cabin they met up with Spock and the three of them went over the different ways that Cody might possibly further injure himself during the game.

"Considering I sprained it just by running, I don't think I'm winning any trophies for gracefulness," he willingly admitted as he attached the nurse-appointed brace to his ankle. "Does this make me look cool, like I got it by doing something heroic?"

"Sure," Noel replied.

"It doesn't make you look any _worse_," Spock deflected.

He wasn't trying to look cute and didn't care as long as it fit into his sneaker, and thankfully it did when he laced up. It helped alleviate some of the ache that still bothered to stick around, and he tucked two of the remaining pain pills he had left into his pocket just in case he needed them later on.

Around noon, after breakfast, everyone eight years of age or older were allowed to head down to the amphitheater. There wasn't anything special set up, and nobody needed to take a seat. Four counselors were tasked with helping out the Guardian Group, and four counselors were tasked with helping out the Capture Group. They weren't really going to aid in guarding or capturing either way, and were mostly just going to be hanging out in the amphitheater should any of the players need them. The campers assigned as Guardians were directed down a path going left, while the Capturers went right. There was no real rhyme or reason as to who got placed on what team, and the counselors were really only paying attention to make sure that the groups were mostly even.

Noel had been trying to stick pretty close to Cody as they waited to be added to one group or the other, but this ended up causing something of an issue. When they got to the front, he ended up directly next to him and the counselors split them down the middle. Noel was directed left, and Cody was told to go right. All they could do was watch as the other was handed a shirt with their team color and told to change or put it on over their original shirts, then head down their respective paths. "Sorry," he mouthed silently, though they both knew that it wasn't his fault.

This left Cody with a bit of a yearning feeling in his stomach that he couldn't quite place, tossing his simple white t-shirt in a pile of discarded shirts from other campers. He replaced it with his new pale blue one that read _Camp Wildflower_ across the front and _Capture the Flag 2019_ across the back in big black font. By the time he turned to look for Noel again, he saw him in his lime green shirt walking in the opposite direction. Spock, who was walking alongside him, was talking enough for the both of them.

✰

The walk to the Capturers' makeshift campsite was about a mile into the woods. It wasn't so far in that they couldn't find their way back if they wanted or needed to, but it wasn't so close to camp that they might bother the younger campers who felt left out. They sat on logs placed out for them and huddled around a giant map laid on the ground, trying to figure out a strategy. The Guardians' campsite was marked with a big red X that symbolized exactly where the flag was. There was a decent amount of older teens on their team who were all too happy to let the younger kids do most of the legwork, as long as they could all share in the glory at the end.

"What we really need to do is set up spies for the first couple of hours or something," one of them spoke up, and this was someone that Cody recognized from at least the three prior years of camp.

_ Devon_.

Devon was seventeen and tall - at least by Cody's standards - and thin and lanky, with messy blond hair and an earring. There was nothing wrong with the guy, but he liked to pick on Cody when he had the chance. Not in a mean way, but more like an older brother sort of way. Except Cody hated it, because it always made him feel...weird. He would totally deny it if anybody ever asked, but Spock had pointed out one time that Cody deliberately did things just so that Devon _would_ pick on him. Which he definitely did not do, and there was no way in hell you'd ever get him to agree that he did. He'd never really thought too hard about his sexuality. He was thirteen for crying out loud, he barely had any sexuality. He figured that he'd simply go with the flow of things, though, and sometimes his flow seemed to like Devon and Devon's teasing a bit more than he cared to let on.

"I mean, that does sound like a good idea," he piped up for the first time since they'd all been out there, and he could envision Spock saying, _"You would think so," _if he'd been around.

"Squirt knows what's up," Devon said, shooting finger guns in Cody's direction with a wink for added flair. Cody ignored the annoying butterflies, even though being called squirt made him feel about five years old.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Devon and a few others designated some of the younger teens to go be scouts, Cody included. They were given an hour to look around and see if they could get an idea of how the other team was spread out, then another hour to get back and relay all of their newfound information. Cody had the thought in the back of his mind that the older ones were copping out on all the fun but he didn't really care, joining the other chosen scouts as they filed out of the camp.

They took the trail they'd followed to make it there, passing the amphitheater and going the other way instead. After they made it past the edge of the woods on the left side, they split up to see what they could find out. Somehow Cody ended up alone, and he almost thought of it as better that way. If he had the opportunity to do so, he was just going to take the flag himself and bring it back. He'd be a hero for sure, right? But he was getting ahead of himself with thoughts like that, and he mostly stuck to the plan.

Being sneaky was hard to pull off when you were wearing a pastel blue t-shirt and trying to go slow enough that you didn't hurt your ankle that was only recently healed. He didn't hear anybody walking around through the trees, but what if they'd anticipated his arrival? Or at least the arrival of the Capturers in general. Surely they'd have had their own plans in place by now. And they did. Cody found that out in the most irritating way possible, when Spock's arm shot out of a bush and his hand wrapped around Cody's mouth. He pulled him back into the greenery, coming very close to biting off one of his fingers before he was turned around and could see who it was.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he whisper-shouted, looking around to see if anyone else had witnessed what he'd originally assumed was his kidnapping. "Seriously, I sometimes wonder why we're friends! You're going to give me a heart attack, I swear to god."

"Shut the fuck up! I'm helping you!" Spock pressed a finger to his lips, and Cody only suddenly noticed that he'd tied a Camp Wildflower bandana around his head. There were lines of eye black spread on his cheeks, but honestly Cody believed that it was probably mud. "We have people hidden in the trees. I can't tell you anymore than that, and it's super rude for you to expect me to."

"I didn't even ask you abou-"

"That's all you're getting out of me!" Spock shouted in a much louder voice. Then, quieter again, "They're all taking this very seriously. I would suggest you turn back...while you still can." He exited the bush and Cody was left wondering if he hadn't experienced a fever dream from the heat of the summer Arkansan sun.

✰

Noel was not taking it very seriously at all. In fact he cared so little about the whole ordeal that he'd volunteered for one of the easiest jobs, if not the easiest. He was standing guard in front of the flag and eating a granola bar. Next to him was an eight year old girl whose name was Samantha, if that's any indication at all to how valued his job was, and about twenty minutes in he'd ended up giving her the other half of his snack. It was hard to choke down a granola bar with no water, after all, and he technically wasn't allowed to leave his post for any reason other than a bathroom break until he was relieved of his shift. He was also in full bandana and mud-stripe gear, and someone had enforced the look on poor little Sam as well. Almost certainly Spock, he thought. "This is kinda boring," she mumbled after the first five minutes. It was a mantra she repeated in regular intervals during the first hour, and after that Noel couldn't take it anymore. He found himself sitting on the ground next to her regardless of the shift rules and trying to teach her about the little bugs they saw crawling around, picking up worms or beetles and putting them back when she got tired of them. It would've made a decent picture, if he'd remembered to bring his camera. His parents were probably going to be a little miffed that they sent him off to camp with a brand new camera that he'd practically begged them for, only to find out that he'd continually forgotten to use the thing.

When someone finally returned from dicking around in the trees, at least that's all Noel understood from earlier when he'd stopped paying attention during the planning everything out phase, they were standing back up albeit with dirty hands.

"They've infiltrated us. Six or seven of them. Did you see any of them?" an older girl asked, and Noel shook his head. It was the truth, and frankly he was just happy that the flag was still there after they'd taken their eyes off of it. The girl was covered in leaves and a bit of dirt, but somehow she still managed to look clean. He figured that that was, like, a girl thing. A few others from the Guardian team returned and he was finally relieved. They went over their strategy now that a few Capturers had shown themselves, and Noel felt pretty good about blending into the background so that he didn't get picked to do anything too strenuous.

Not paying attention was certainly going to be his downfall one day. He nodded when someone asked him, "Does that sound alright with you, Noel?" The next thing he knew, he was holding the flag's pole and marching into the Capture Group's territory.

Apparently, they'd never look for the flag on their own side of the camp. Why on earth would they? He was cursing himself all the way over there for not at least listening in on the conversation, and he'd literally been chosen because he was being so quiet. Quiet was an asset when you were trying to get past a bunch of people like he was. It was actually kind of cool, though. He sort of felt like he was really accomplishing something when he hid behind a tree and a few campers from the opposing team ran past him without even knowing he was there.

The only problem with being the sole Guardian on the Capture side was that, well, he was all alone. It was a lot more boring this way. He'd stuck the flag into the ground in a decently secluded spot that could still be found if someone was looking hard enough, and he had a pretty view of the lake to his right side. So at least it wasn't ugly by any means, just lonely. He had to wonder if he would even make it all the way to nightfall. He'd heard Spock and a few other campers talking about mountain lions and bears, and he didn't live in Arkansas so he had no idea if those were valid things to be worried about or not. Still... He found a pointy stick to brandish as a weapon. Just in case, of course.

✰

After Spock had intervened with Cody's assignment, he considered turning back only for a few moments. As much as he didn't want to mess with a bunch of teenagers in trees, he did very much want to at least get a glimpse of that flag. He wove between trees that he didn't think were climbable and likely weren't hiding anybody, following what he hoped were fresh footprints further into the forest. It seemed to work because within several minutes he heard voices, and he did have to take a second to make sure he wasn't imagining them or anything. Thankfully, he wasn't. He peered through a shrub at the Guardians' campsite. Every one of them seemed to be sitting there, talking and laughing and not much else. While he assumed that some of them were still placed around the perimeter, it looked like most of them were there. The flag, however, was obviously gone. Noel was too. So he was either with it or he had been banished to perimeter duty. Cody wasn't sure which of those things sounded more believable, considering Noel hadn't seemed to care about the game very much when they'd talked about it.

He stepped back, making his way back to his own campsite. It was a good thing he'd brought along those pills, since his ankle was starting to give off a dull throb from all of the walking after a week of barely any movement. When he got back to his group, he took one and sipped from a bottle of water.

"What'd you end up finding out?" they asked, and most of the kids he'd left with were already back.

"They're all sitting at their campsite but their flag is gone," Cody answered with a shrug. Murmurs passed back and forth throughout the group as they tried to decipher what the Guardian Group was up to, but he couldn't offer any genuine ideas.

Devon made a good point in finally stating that they should be looking out for their own borders, too, which is how Cody ended up raising his hand for the job.

"Dude, you're like, such a good little helper," came his praise, and Cody had to forcibly will himself not to blush at the statement. It was nice; borderline embarrassing, yes, but still nice.

Cody grabbed a snack cake from their pile of goodies and set about walking around their area looking for unwanted intruders. It wasn't a huge area, but the time passed rather quickly when all of the trees and bushes and rocks looked the same. He passed the same grouping of flowers three times before he eventually gave up and walked in the exact opposite direction, hoping to find something he hadn't already seen before or at least make his way back to his campsite. If nothing else, he'd say he hadn't seen anyone. Technically it wouldn't have been a lie! Luckily, he didn't end up back at camp quite yet.

What he ran into next was a very distracted Noel Miller, whose back was turned on the very thing he had (reluctantly) sworn to protect. At first, seeing his friend transfixed on the lake glimmering in the sunshine, Cody's first instinct was to call out to him so they could talk. His second instinct, and the one that won out, was the one that reminded him he had a game to win. He softly tiptoed over to the flag and wrapped his palm around the pole, gently struggling with trying to get it out of the ground. He pulled a little too hard and heard the flimsy plastic snap in half, and jesus just how far into the dirt had Noel sunk the thing, anyway? Either way it immediately alerted Noel, who stood up and went straight for the flag.

"No way! I got it fair and square," Cody huffed, holding the flag up high to where Noel couldn't reach it.

...Except, yes, he really could. His hand reached up just as high and the only thing that kept him from grabbing it was Cody stepping backwards. "I can take it back if I can grab it, y'know. That's totally in the rules," he muttered, to which Cody stuck his tongue out in response.

"Maybe so. But you're never gonna grab it back," came his argument. They were caught in a loop of Cody stepping backwards in between short bursts of conversation, with Noel following after him every time.

"Why not?"

"'Cause I said so."

"That's not a valid argument, _mom_. It's not even an argument!"

Cody rolled his eyes at the nitpicking, then turned to run during the brief moment of silence between them. He expected Noel to chase after him and he did. It didn't make too much sense because he seriously could not remember how to get back to the campsite, and if he did make it back it was going to be the work of fate alone. He ran for about thirty seconds, dodging logs and jumping over small dips in the forest floor. He was also pointedly avoiding anything that looked like a rock, hidden or otherwise.

All this to say that he was most assuredly not expecting Noel to catch up to him and grab the back of his shirt, stopping him short. Noel's plan had been to turn Cody around to face him so that he could try and get the flag back. Being two boys in their early teens, they weren't nearly that coordinated. He did manage to get Cody turned around, but he hadn't stopped the momentum of his own body in time. They slammed into one another, falling to the ground with Noel landing on top of Cody in a bit of a heap. They stayed like that for a second or two, faces much too close together for comfort. Noel stood up first, wiping himself off as Cody followed suit. Words of apology were stumbled over, the flag laying forgotten on the ground.

"Uh..." Noel trailed off, not even sure of what to say. "Like, I didn't mean to do that. Obviously. That wasn't, um, part of the plan," he shook his head.

An awkward laugh fell out of Cody's mouth as he shook his head. "Well, yeah, I didn't think you did. 'Cause that'd be weird. Not that - uh, not that it'd be weird if, like, you were into that. Like into guys, or whatever..."

"I'm not into guys. But, I mean, if I was, you know. It'd be fine, 'cause that's fine."

"Right! Totally fine. I mean I'm not either, I don't think. But, yeah."

Noel made a hand motion pointing at the half broken flag on the ground, looking anywhere but at Cody. "You can uh, you can just take it. It's just a game and I didn't even really care about winning or anything, and I know it's important to you, so," he shrugged, watching as Cody picked it up. He wasn't going to say it, but if he hadn't stopped Cody then he would have won anyway. He was faster, even with an imperfect ankle.

"Thanks, dude. I won't tell anyone. About you letting me win, I mean. Not the other thing. I wouldn't have told anyone about that anyway. Except maybe Spock," Cody chuckled, a light blush forming on his cheeks. A blush that he allowed, this time.

"No, don't tell Spock! He embellishes. The next thing you know, you'll hear the story back from some kid you've never even met and we'll have been doing something way worse," said Noel, who was grinning now, the awkwardness slowly dissipating.

Pointing out Spock's tendency for dramatics made Cody laugh outright, and he pointed in what he thought was the direction back to camp. "You can go ahead first if you want. I mean, back to your campsite."

Noel nodded, but gingerly reached out to guide Cody's wrist. He redirected it about thirty degrees west of where he'd been pointing a second ago. "You might wanna head back _this_ way if you actually wanna make it back to camp," he lightly teased, and Cody just bit his lip as he watched him walk off. Honestly? His wrist kind of tingled in a way that felt even better than the butterflies.

✰

After the counselors had rounded up all of the campers who'd been playing CTF, including a few scragglers who hadn't gotten the memo that the game had ended and were still planted in trees, they were all lead back to the amphitheater. Cody got to hold (and keep) the flag and he was proud of it, broken as it may have been. As the Capture Group stood in front of the Guardian Group, victorious, Noel couldn't help but be pleased that he managed to put that big of a smile on Cody's face. It was a silly game and he still thought so, even if he did get caught up in it for a bit there, but if it made his friend happy then the ridiculousness of it was all worth it. He happened to make a mental note of the way Cody kept looking up at some blond guy for approval, and he felt a pang of something he wasn't sure he'd ever genuinely felt before: Jealousy. Now was not the time to read too much into it, he figured.

The Guardians' punishment for losing was serving the Capturers dinner before they themselves got to eat, but he didn't mind. They were all pretty pissed at him for losing the flag but he reminded them all that it wasn't his fault. He could have _sworn_ he'd heard a mountain lion out there, and what was he supposed to do? Die for the sake of Capture the Flag?

"Yes!" the girl who'd spoken to him earlier had replied, then softened her tone when she realized how silly that sounded.

When dinner was over and everyone had gotten a chance to shower, they were all pretty tired. Cody was out like a light after washing up, before Noel had even brushed his teeth.

**_Noel - Thanks again for letting me, well, you know. Here's a piece of the flag for being so cool about it!_ **was written on a piece of paper in Noel's bed when he climbed in. Under it was a little piece of white fabric clearly ripped off the edge of the flag, and when he peeked over the side of his bed he could see the torn flag visibly sticking out from underneath Cody's pillow.


End file.
